Jaguars could be best destination for Bill Belichick (and not for a good reason)

There's been chatter about Bill Belichick becoming the head coach for North Carolina. However, it isn't a done deal yet, so he remains a viable candidate to replace Doug Pederson with the Jacksonville Jaguars. In fact, Mike Sando of The Athletic believes they could be the Hoodie's best chance to return to the NFL sidelines for one crucial reason.

Sando recently said that not many NFL teams will court Belichick if he wants to have full control over the roster decisions. However, he quotes an executive who thinks Jacksonville would be willing to give him general manager powers, pointing out that rumors about the Super Bowl-winning head coach getting a gig at the collegiate level might be nothing but a bluff for owner Shad Khan to make a move.

"It’s plausible there will be no NFL coaching job available to Belichick in the coming cycle. He interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons last offseason but did not get the job. Very few teams, if any, appear willing to hand over full control to Belichick. The odds of that changing could be low.

“Jacksonville is the one place he could get whatever power he is looking for,” an NFL team exec said. “Is he trying to get (Jaguars owner) Shad Khan to make a move?”

Doug Pederson remains Jaguars’ coach for now."

Belichick has been linked to the Jaguars in light of Doug Pederson's struggles. Since Week 13 of the 2023 season, they've won four of 19 games. To his credit, he hasn't lost the locker room as it was reported earlier this year. However, his performance has left much to be desired.

After starting 8-3 last year, Jacksonville went on to lose five of their last six games and miss the playoffs. Instead of bouncing back, the team has fared much worse, which has led to speculation about Pederson getting the boot. Among the candidates who have been brought up to replace him, Belichick is the most prominent of the bunch.

This makes sense when you take into account that he appeared in eight Super Bowls and won six of them during his 24-year stint with the New England Patriots. Moreover, he routinely put together some of the best defenses in the league. However, he also led the front office and had a hard time consistently replenishing the roster. With diminished results, he was dismissed in 2024.

Not long ago, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk floated the idea of Belichick working with general manager Trent Baalke in Jacksonville, given that they know each other because they worked together for the New York Jets in the late 1990s.

This theory sounds reasonable when you consider that Baalke may stay with the Jags beyond 2024. Heck, Doug Pederson could also keep his job if they finish the season strong. Similarly, Belichick says he's open to different opportunities aside from potentially coaching UNC. So basically, this is a fluid situation, and may things could happen between now and the end of the NFL.

Bill Belichick could be the HC for the Jaguars but they would need to hire a general manager

After being dismissed by the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick made it clear that he wanted to keep coaching, there wasn't much demand for his services. Only the Atlanta Falcons interviewed him and their interested seemed to be of the exploratory nature.

One of the reasons was that — you guessed it — Belichick may have wanted control over roster decisions. To his credit, he's said that he doesn't mind being part of a collaborative effort, but that doesn't seem to have moved the needle.

Granted, there's no doubt that he can still coach defenses at a high level, but he had trouble rebuilding the Patriots once Tom Brady left. There's also the issue of his picks for his coaching staff. Is he going to bring usual collaborators such as Matt Patricia, or Bill O'Brien? That could be a potential turnoff for teams.

But for the sake of the argument, let's say Belichick does put together a staff composed of coaches he knows and fresh faces. The Jaguars cannot afford to give him full control over roster decisions. Pairing him with Trent Baalke wouldn't make much sense either because he's had more blunders than hits during his stint in Jacksonville.

If Bill Belichick is willing to solely focus on the coaching side of things and is willing to work with a general manager who isn't Trent Baalke, the Jacksonville Jaguars should entertain the possibility of hiring him. Otherwise, they're better off letting him interview for other openings, whether they're at the NFL or collegiate level.

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